Fuller's role with Lady Vols understood

As Tennessee's lone senior, Alex Fuller will have the floor to herself Sunday night.

Managing the emotions that typically accompany the senior ceremony will only be part of her adjustment. From Fuller's perspective, this women's basketball season never has been about her.

"I think I've had to put myself aside and think about other people more,'' the 6-foot-3 forward said, "learning how to communicate with people."

UT coach Pat Summitt always will be grateful for Fuller's assistance. The regular season finale against No. 19 Vanderbilt (21-7, 10-3 SEC) at Thompson-Boling Arena (TV: ESPN2, 7 p.m.) underscores how difficult this season has been.

No. 18 Tennessee (19-9, 8-5) already has lost more conference games than any team in program history and is locked into a fifth-place finish, its worst since 1997.

A 74-58 loss in Nashville on Jan. 11 - which ended UT's 16-game winning streak against the Commodores - foreshadowed the six losses that followed and how many of them occurred. The Commodores prepared for the first meeting by walking all over a Tennessee doormat. They essentially repeated that exercise during the game, inspiring guard Merideth Marsh to offer a humbling contrast afterward.

"They did not have that second effort or that third effort that we did,'' she said. "They got tired. They missed shots. They had fouls. Weren't getting back on defense. What we were doing is we were doing the complete opposite."

Since then, Fuller has had the floor more than once. Unlike tonight, those instances have occurred behind closed doors in team meetings, where she's spoken on behalf of her experiences and the program.

"She knew going into this year what she needed to do in terms of leadership and it's been a long time since I'd say we've had a better one,'' Summitt said. "We've had some really good leaders. I'd put her probably in the top five."

The arrival of six first-year freshmen this season put a greater premium on leadership. The loss of Cait McMahan and Vicki Baugh during the season to knee problems diminished the veteran presence. Still, Fuller isn't inclined to feel lonely on the court.

"Like I said, I can't think about myself, I can't be selfish in that aspect,'' said Fuller, who redshirted her freshman season after undergoing multiple knee surgeries. "I have to try to keep pushing through and stay strong and let them see I'm staying strong so hopefully they will, too."

Judging by her statistics, Fuller has gotten stronger as the season progressed. She's averaging 10.7 points per game in SEC games, nearly three points better than her 7.9 season average. Her rebounding also is better in conference play (7.1) than overall (6.0).

Fuller's voice hasn't wavered either. If anything, it's become more forceful as the losses mounted.

"There comes a point where somebody just needs to hear the truth,'' she said. "So I mean you can be, I guess, nice and you say things calmly, but if something keeps happening over and over again, you kind of have to say what's on your mind."

There could've been another senior at the bully pulpit this season but Lindsey Moss transferred two years ago and no longer is playing.

There won't be any seniors next season, not with McMahan redshirting last season and Nicci Moats having transferred after her freshman season.

Summitt prefers more balance in the ranks.

"That's the ideal; we're not working with the ideal right now,'' she said. "When you lose players and players transfer sometimes you have to fill the void."

With a future senior night in mind, Summitt and her staff are reconsidering next year's signing class. To date, Lauren Avant, a point guard from Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, is the lone commitment.

"At this point, we haven't made that decision,'' Summitt said. "It might be a class of two, depending on what happens with everyone else."